Chakra and Reishi
by Faded Shinobi
Summary: What happens when Ichigo and the gang stumble into Konoha before the start of the Chunnin exam? Trouble of course. Post Aizen/ Chunnin Exam Arc. Rated "T" for now. Pairings undecided. No slash Disclaimer: All characters are property to their respective owners
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

It was a rare day for Ichigo to be using his powers and be in a good mood, but when Chad had invited him over to Urahara's shop for a small spar he lost himself in the feeling of being a spirit. He would never tell the others to keep them from worrying about him but he often preferred the freedom from the physical world his combat pass gave him. Ichigo almost paid for his distraction when Chad surprised him with one of his blasts. He dodged it by diving to the ground to the right and quickly rolled and stood up preparing to return fire with a Getsuga Tensho. As he began to gather energy for his attack, his spirit froze and began to flicker. "Not now," Ichigo thought. He had been experiencing this the last couple weeks and it could only mean one thing; his was losing his power, his freedom.

Chad noticed this as well and shared a look with Orihime who was watching the scene with Tatski on a nearby hill with Mr. Urarhara underneath his shop. "Hey Ichigo, I'm out of energy and need rest, you win." Chad released his powers, causing his right arm to return to normal, and went to join the others.

"When will that idiot just admit to us that he's losing his powers?" Tatski asked as they watch Ichigo slowly return to his body and make his way over to the group. She jumped when Ishida suddenly appeared behind her and said, "You answered your own question, he's an idiot."

"Aw Ishida, nice of you to join us, now we can get to the business with everybody here," Urahara said. Ichigo had just gotten to the group then, "And what business is that Hats and Clogs?" Ignoring his nickname from the substitute shimigami, Urahara said, "Well it seems one of my old projects has produced some fruit of success and I need some volunteers for… let's call it a field trip. One of my old test subjects was supposed to make his 20 year report but there was a problem."

"What kind of project has a 20 year report?" Tatski asked. "Ah well he was exploring another dimension." Urahara answered while sipping the tea that Tessai had just brought down for them. At that, the whole group went bug eyed except for Ichigo who merely said "Ok."

Tatski was the first to turn around and hit the orange haired teen. "You idiot! Didn't he just say there was a problem? And you just want to go off on another potentially dangerous adventure when you're…" she shut up knowing what she had almost yelled at her friend. "I'm what" Ichigo asked as he stood up and stared at her. "Weak" Ishida finished. "Your powers are becoming unstable and if this place is hostile then you will simply be in the way."

"I'll show you who's weak" Ichigo declared as the two glared at each other until Urahara stepped in between them. "Now now, even though he died, he did make sure to have a backup plan. Alas, good test subjects are hard to find. He simply sent a native in his place, meet Hatake Kakashi "he said as he pointed to a tree next to him. 'Oh boy it finally happened; he's finally lost his mind and is talking to trees.' The young ones thought until they heard a "Yo" and a man reading a small orange book jumped down from the tree.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Kakashi had been surprised when the Hokage had summoned and assigned him an S-Class mission. He had perform such missions before as the Captain of the Anbu Black Ops division but now he was in the middle of training his genin team for the Chunnin exams.

He was currently in an isolated mountain valley not to far from Konoho going over the info of the strange case assignment. According to the Hokage, it had been a time delay mission. That in itself wasn't that weird, many people would often delay the start of a mission; however this assignment was requested many years ago and the details were not clear on what he should expect other than he was to meet someone and information was to be exchanged. The information wasn't anything critical, just basic land layouts of the the Elemental Nations, an understanding of how chakra works in the body and is manipulated for jutsus, and the roles of shinobi and the missions they take. It was clear the information was for someone who was unfamiliar with shinobi but ninja openly walked in the middle of villages and any of them could have given this info if asked. A chunnin could have completed this mission, or even Kakashi's own genin team. Except for one detail.

The mission had been odered by the 4th Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage, had been surprised at his desk when a unknown seal on his desk activated when he had just finished his paperwork. Prepared for an attack, a prank from Naruto or his grandson, or what he dreaded most more paperwork, he relaxed at seeing a scroll appear on his desk. However, at seeing the seal of the 4th on the scroll Sarutobi tensed. Not much was known about the young Hokage. As a boy at the age of 10, he had mysteriously shown up at the gate of the village by himself and had been enlisted into the Academy just like all the other orphans. He had shown to be a quick study and eventually an even better shinobi. At the age of 16, the chunnin Minato had gained some fame for his skills. His genius would show through in the jutsus he would work hard to create and master and under the teaching of the Jiraiya his Fuuin skills were becoming more complex. However, with his spy network to maintain the Great Toad Sage could not always be there for his student and Minato had requested a leave from the village for a training trip. At the time of his request, tensions with Iwa were just starting to grow. The Village Hidden in Stone was feeling threatened by Konoha which was being proclaimed as the strongest village. If Jiraiya had not thrown his support for the young chunnin's trip, Sarutobi would have kept him in the village. Over the next 2 years, tensions with Iwa grew to a breaking point and Iwa started planning an attack on the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Thanks to Jiraiya's spy network, Konoha learned of the attack and sent some ninja to fight back the invading force. What the spies were unable to discover was just how many ninjas Iwa was sending their way. With the village boasting the highest number of shinobi, Iwa would often throw soldiers until they bulldoze over their enemies. So when a hundred enemies ninjas stared down Jiraiya and the handful with him, they knew that the fight would not be an easy one. However, a lone blonde figure appeared between the two opposing sides. Jiraiya recognized his student and Minato gave him a signal saying to stand down. Hesitant to let his student fight the whole army by himself he almost cried out when he say the look of excitement and intensity in the young ninja's face. Jiraiya had seen that look many times, whenever Minato had completed some new jutsu, it was a look that promised a good show. The Stone ninjas were insulted by this one unassuming blonde thinking he could hold them all off and decided to charge him. What was reported next by Jiraiya and the others quickly made its way through the whole village until every man, woman, and child knew of the great Hero of the Village. He never explained where he had gone or what he had done in those 2 years he was gone and no one could even found out where he had gone. He simply stated that he was sworn to secrecy to protect his new friends and that his Flying Thunder God jutsu had been inspired by one of his companions.

'Sensi,' thought Kakashi as he leaned back up against the tree he was in, 'what are your secrets?' Kakashi was brought out of his musings when a black butterfly suddenly appeared in the clearing. He was watching it carefully waiting for any signs of an attack when a door suddenly appeared out of mid air. The sliding doors opened up to reveal a man in a green jacket, a green and white striped hat, a cane, and a pair of sandals walk out.

"No gigia needed, just like last time. Wonder what that'll mean for Kurosaki, oh well, time to take notes." Kakashi watched the strange man running around taking notes about the trees, the grass, and even the rocks around the clearing. Kakashi deciding that the man hasn't shown any signs of a treat, he leaned back into the tree to think about what he had seen so far. All of a sudden, the man he had been watching had disappeared and Kakashi could feel a sword at his throat and heard the man say, "Now now, who might you be?"

Fin chapter 2

Thanks everyone who had read the first chapter and added this story to your alerts. Although I was surprised by the response I got to my first story. Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. Ive had it written in my notebook for awhile but while I was typing, the whole Minato scene kinda just jumped out of my head and onto the screen. At first it was just going to be some random mission scroll but I think I like the way it turned out better. What do you think?


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